China remains the top importer of Russian food products this year, according to one expert.

"Last year, China purchased Russian food products worth more than one billion U.S. dollars, and I believe there will be a significant increase this year," said Dmitry Rylko, general director of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR).

Currently, fish and other seafood account for the bulk of Russian food exports to China, he added. Shipments of grain, of which Russia is a major exporter, are rather modest.

Xinhua reports that the Russian government has licensed regions in the Urals, Western Siberia and the Far East to export grain to China, while the European part of Russia, which also produces large volumes of wheat, corn and barley, are unable to supply grain
products to China, Rylko said.

President of the industry lobby Russian Grain Union, Arkady Zlochevsky, called the Chinese market "wide and promising."

"Russia can offer China many agricultural commodities including pulses and oilseeds. But wheat is most promising," he said.

He also noticed the interest of Chinese businesses in importing high-quality Russian beef for premium retail shops, hotels, restaurants and cafes.